Speech:

Good morning respect chair, Co chair,Judges and delegates. My name is

AbdurRehman Ijaz and I am a delegate of the Social Humanitarian and
Cultural Commitee or simply SOHCUM. I am a representative of France
and my topic is the rise of Islamophobia in France.
Islam has been a part of French history since the 8th Century and it would
not be wrong to say that Islam has become a permanent feature of the
French culture. But then how did this discrimination towards Muslims
start? well.. it started after the 11th September attacks in 2001 when 4
coordinated attacks were carried out by Islamic Extremist group called Al-
Qaeda in Newyork City. Muslims no matter thier age or Gender became a
target of discrimination all around the globe, it was of no surprise that this
discrimination spread to France home to the largest number of Muslims in
the western world, which is primarily due to the migration of Muslims from
Middle-Eastern and West African countries. These Muslims claimed about
an anti-Muslim climate in the country and explained that this was due to
the belief that French people thought the Muslims were opposed to
Secularism and Modernity. Moving on, Recently Muslims have raised thier
voice against the french president, Emmanuel Macron when he defended a
cartoon airing on French national television making a face of the Holy
Prophet P.B.U.H. drawing caricatures of the Prophet is a major sin in Islam
and may Muslims took offense to this this also resulted in a boycott of many
french products in most Muslim countries.
It should also be noted that there are many forces working with the
Muslims againt Islamophobia. The Collective Against Islamophobia was a
french non profit organization formed in 2003 and dissolved in 2020. its
goal was to provide legal-support to Muslims living in France who faced
discrimination on a daily basis. There are also about 60 countries whic are
membersof the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation which have designated
15th March the international day to combat Islamophobia. Lastly I would
like to say that there are many people advocating against Islamophbic and
xenophobic federal policies as they believe that this will create a more
united community for all.